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<p>Through the extensive use of anthropomorphism, phytomorphism, and zoomorphism, rhetorical devices grounded in an ethic of multi-species care, the Japanese manga <i>Doraemon</i> envisions a world where animals, plants and humans share equal agency and autonomy. Its Cantonese translation, serialized in a children’s magazine in 1970s Hong Kong, achieved tremendous success, cementing its place in the local cultural landscape. However, the pervasive domestication in the translation remains underexplored, particularly as a cross-cultural mechanism through which texts are reshaped in response to practical concerns about target audience and the complexities of the original narrative. Focusing on the domestication approach, this paper examines the Cantonese renditions of anthropomorphic, phytomorphic, and zoomorphic beings as they are reframed within the target context of Chinese culture. It argues that the reconfigured juxtapositions between vegetality, animality, and humanity, though minimizing cultural differences through domesticated expressions, communicate the original anti-anthropocentric narrative in a manner more familiar and accessible to Chinese children in Hong Kong. Assimilating cultural otherness into Cantonese and its affiliated Chineseness, this target-oriented approach can be perceived as a defensive reaffirmation of Chinese identity against the backdrop of British colonization, despite the exclusivity inherent in domestication.</p>

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Cantonese Translations of Doraemon in Hong Kong: Domestication Between Vegetal, Animal, and Human Agencies

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年4月5日

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  • Xueyi Li

摘要

Through the extensive use of anthropomorphism, phytomorphism, and zoomorphism, rhetorical devices grounded in an ethic of multi-species care, the Japanese manga Doraemon envisions a world where animals, plants and humans share equal agency and autonomy. Its Cantonese translation, serialized in a children’s magazine in 1970s Hong Kong, achieved tremendous success, cementing its place in the local cultural landscape. However, the pervasive domestication in the translation remains underexplored, particularly as a cross-cultural mechanism through which texts are reshaped in response to practical concerns about target audience and the complexities of the original narrative. Focusing on the domestication approach, this paper examines the Cantonese renditions of anthropomorphic, phytomorphic, and zoomorphic beings as they are reframed within the target context of Chinese culture. It argues that the reconfigured juxtapositions between vegetality, animality, and humanity, though minimizing cultural differences through domesticated expressions, communicate the original anti-anthropocentric narrative in a manner more familiar and accessible to Chinese children in Hong Kong. Assimilating cultural otherness into Cantonese and its affiliated Chineseness, this target-oriented approach can be perceived as a defensive reaffirmation of Chinese identity against the backdrop of British colonization, despite the exclusivity inherent in domestication.